Saturday, October 31, 2009

Focaccia with Figs and Walnuts

The talented Paoletta of Anice e Cannella challenged us again to join a fun Autumn game. In the Summer she gave us a recipe and we were challenged to copy or change it to our liking, this time we were given the ingredients and we had to come up with the recipe.

Since the ingredients are some of my favorites to work with, and I love baking bread, I decided to give this focaccia a twist by adding egg yolks, sugar, and increasing the amount of corn flour. I probably used the last figs of the season, but dry reconstituted figs could be used as well.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the sponge and mix for 5 minutes at low speed on an electric mixer fitted with the hook attachment. Adjust the amount of flour to have a sticky dough. Remove the dough, which should be sticky and tacky, onto a well floured counter top. Let rest for 5 minutes, then proceed with pulling and folding the dough like an envelope, which will develop the gluten. Let rest for 30 minutes and repeat the pulling and folding. Let double at room temperature, about 1 hour. Press the dough onto a well oiled baking pan. Brush the top with one egg, dd the quartered figs and the crushed walnuts and let rise at room temperature for another hour. Bake at 350F until nicely browned and the internal temperature reaches 200F.